Few artists are able to place you in a very specific environment the moment they begin to sing. Johnny Cash was one of those artists. The moment his baritone opens over a strummed acoustic guitar, you are transported into a black and white photograph. The photograph is of a hill, with a small chapel at the peak. A train passes in the background. It is Gothic but lovely. A nightmare but home. Evil but good.That photograph is made of as much as Johnny Cash's life as it is his music. They were one and the same.
In his decade-plus relationship with producer Rick Rubin, Johnny Cash recorded hundreds of songs. Everything from hymns to '90s alternative rock. Each song was given a similar treatment - Cash's voice, his guitar and as little else as possible. The American Recordings albums rejuvenated Cash's career and introduced him to new generations of fans. It was also some of the most compelling work of his career, one that spanned six decades.
At it's best, the American Recordings series was profound and intimate, at it's worst it was claustrophobic and Cash's voice was tired.
American VI: Ain't No Grave is the sixth installment, and the second posthumous release of the series. These songs are some of the last recorded before Cash died September 2003. The sessions were in progress during his wife's, June Carter Cash, death in May 2003.
The final few American Recordings albums gave Cash a platform to perform some dark songs, distilled in the topics he sang about his entire life - God, love and murder. There is no reason he should change the formula now.
"Ain't No Grave" is a fitting lead track, and certainly plays to the Man in Black's image, but the ball and chain percussion trick worked better on the American V: A Hundred Highways track "God's Gonna Cut You Down." It is a gimmick - the combination of chain drag, ball drop and hand clap - and it is disappointing Cash and Rubin would use the same gimmick twice. Which is counter-intuitive to their "no gimmick" approach to recording.
The highlights of the album come when Cash is able to open up and sing. Covers of Sheryl Crow's "Redemption Day" and Kris Kristofferson's "For the Good Times" are potent examples of giving Cash a space to sing, rather than run him through a litany of words. The story songs he used to do so proudly don't have the same zing to them.
Through his entire career, Cash was able to spotlight the work of remarkable songwriters. He continued that tradition in his last few years, not by uncovering the unknown talents but by adding new dimensions to existing artists - Glenn Danzig and Trent Reznor, to name just two. Cash's version of "Redemption Day" will inspire a new look at Sheryl Crow and the depth of songwriting she is capable of creating.
The remainder of the album is not the best, nor the worst, of the series. It is not as heated as the posthumous and underrated American V. It is not as intimate as the first American Recordings. Nor does it have the surprises of "Rusty Cage" or "Hurt." It is just a good album, sung by an old friend.
"Well there ain't no grave/can hold my body down..."
